Unit Tweaks Mod V1.0

[BrotherNabor]

Unit Tweaks Mod V1.0
Tweaks to units I've found to be underperforming and changed to my taste - added here, so others might enjoy them too.

Most units are fine, but a few are not in my opinion. Some changes are easy to argue for, though the details of how and how much a unit should change is a little harder.

I have included a list of changes and some rationale to go along with it further below.

Installation
You should make a copy of the original files, to be able to easily switch back as needed.

Specifically the files that are replaced are:
"...\Warhammer 40000 Sanctus Reach\Data\Squads.csv"
"...\Warhammer 40000 Sanctus Reach\Core\Sanctus_Daemon_Abilities.txt"

Simply extract the files to your Sanctus Reach folder and overwrite the existing files there to use the mod.

The mod is compatible with game version 1.5.1, which includes the elite units they've added to squads.csv.
It works for online multiplayer, as long as both players are using the mod.

Origin of the mod
Let's start with what started the mod - chaos spawns vs bloodclaws. In my testing, pitting bloodclaws vs chaos spawns in a 1v1 duel, the bloodclaws nearly always win in a direct fight (not diagonal). A diagonal attack goes better for the chaos spawn, but the bloodclaws can still win in this scenario. I'd say it's roughly 50/50 here.

If the bloodclaws cost 40 points less than a chaos spawn and outmatches it in a favorable fight, while still being roughly it's equal in a diagonal fight, it's a strong indicator that chaos spawns are not performing at their 120 point cost.

At the same time, the chaos spawns have amazing models and I was disappointed that I didn't want to use them and thus I started digging into Sanctus Reach to see if anything could be done.

To remedy this, I've made the 3 chaos spawns distinct, giving buffs similar to Khorne, Tzeentch and Slannesh units, depending on the model.

2nd comparison - Longfang Heavy Bolters vs Wolfguard Bolter Terminators
Another easy comparison to make is Longfang Heavy Bolters vs Wolfguard Bolter Terminators.
They both cost 320 points, have very similar ranged performance, but the wolfguard terminators are much tougher and have a good melee attack. Let's compare some stats:

Hp: 300 (100*3 Longfangs) vs 640 (160*4 Terminators)
Ballistic Protection: 80 (Longfangs) vs 92 (Terminators)
Heavy Armor: 35 (Longfangs) vs 60 (Terminators)

Ranged performance is harder to compare directly - though the Longfangs heavy bolter is better than the terminators bolter, the extra man in the terminator squad means the terminators generally do as well as the heavy bolters. I think the longfangs have a mild edge, but it is very small.

So if they're very similar in ranged performance, but the terminators are have an extreme toughness advantage and can actually fight well in melee vs no melee at all, the heavy bolters are simply NOT the equal of the terminators. To remedy this, I've reduced to cost of the heavy bolters by 40 points, putting them right next to other longfangs.

Other changes I've made are not as clear cut as the two examples given and tend to be a bit smaller.

List of changes
Below is a list of changes for each faction in the following format:
Unit Name
Stat Name (in squads.csv), change (new value - old value), old value, new value

SPACE MARINES
Hengist_IronAxe
FSCost -20 80 60
Cost -20 80 60
HitPoints 40 200 240
Rationale: while his armor piercing attack can be good, I find it situational and I think it's generally more reliable to take a bloodclaw squad over him. He is also a fair bit easier to kill than a bloodclaw squad (they have 450 hp total), so I thought he could use an hp buff and a cost decrease (which also can make for some nice variation in point cost).


Beoric_Winterfang
FSCost 40 100 140
Cost 40 100 140
Rationale: His armor piercing ranged attack is nearly always significant as heavy armor units are generally always present to some extent. At 100 points, I think he is a fair bit better and more reliable than a flamer squad and due to this, he is subject to one of the few nerfs present, having added 40 points to his cost.


Swiftclaws
HitPoints 10 120 130
Rationale: They're a little easy to kill at 160 points. Though their accuracy boosting ability can be good, I think they could do with a little more durability. At 10 hp more per man, they're still easy to kill, but slightly less so.


Thunderwolf
FSCost -40 280 240
Cost -40 280 240
2ND_WeaponPower[0] -5 90 85
Rationale: At 280 points, I found that these were rarely what I needed over a squad of ranged anti-armor longfangs. 240 points makes for some much more interesting unit combinations and their durability is reasonable at 3/4 the cost of a Bloodcrusher squad. Though I did find them to be slightly heavy at 240 points and gave them a mild nerf to weapon power (chance to do additional non-armor piercing damage) to compensate.


PredatorAuto
2ND_Damage 5 30 35
3RD_Damage 5 30 35
Rationale: at 400 points, the dreadnought is nearly always a better choice, as it's gun does around 66% more damage (double the shots at slightly less damage and armor piercing) than the tank and the dreadnought isn't defenseless in melee either. The tank is faster and it's bolters can do some work against infantry, but without being impressive. At 5 more damage, the bolters are effective against infantry and feel more satisfying to use, offering a more enticing alternative to the dreadnought.


Longfang_Bolter
FSCost -40 320 280
Cost -40 320 280
Rationale: At 320 points, they're in direct competition with terminators, which are far superior (far better defense, similar ranged performance and has a good melee attack). I assume their added cost, relative to the other 280 point longfangs, is due to this squad having 3 men, instead of 2. Putting them at 280 points though, it's much more of a choice between them, as the other longfangs are still better against armor and these better against infantry and more durable due to the third squad member.


ORKS
Skrak_Head_smasha
HitPoints 120 240 360
XP[2] -500 1500 1000
XP[3] -500 2500 2000
Rationale: Relative to the mini bosses of the space marines, Skrak is just too easy to kill imo. At 50% more hp, this is just enough that he occasionally survives where he would otherwise have been gunned down, but since he doens't have much armor, he's still quite managable to put down, while feeling like he can take a bit too. The changes to xp makes him a little easier to level in skirmish campaign, though killing for 1000 points worth of units is still challenging for him.


Rustgob
XP[2] -500 1500 1000
XP[3] -500 2500 2000
Rationale: Xp changes are mainly for skirmish campaigns, I found that 1500 points of killing was rather hard to do for it and made it easier.


Warbuggy
1ST_Damage 2 20 22
Rationale: Though it only costs 50 points, I think the gun is a little unimpressive. I've tried with 24 and 25 points of damage, which did seem to have a bit of bite to it, but perhaps a little too much, so at 22 points of damage, I hope it feels a little better in use, without overdoing it.


Krumpa
XP[2] -500 1500 1000
XP[3] -500 2500 2000
Rationale: Killing 1500 points of units was hard to do for this unit, so I thought it could do with easier levelling.


Deffkopter_Blasta
XP[1] -250 500 250
XP[2] -750 1500 750
XP[3] -1000 2500 1500
1ST_Range 1 4 5
Rationale: with how easy this unit is to kill, having to also get close to fire was a little much for me. Adding 1 range both allows it to shoot further and improves it's accuracy a bit, which I think is more fun in use. Similarly, I thought it could do with an easier levelling experience, as they can be hard to keep alive.


Painboy
XP[2] -500 1500 1000
XP[3] -500 2500 2000
Rationale: It's hard to kill 1500 points of units with this guy, so I thought he could do with an easier levelling experience.


ASTRA MILITARUM
GuardsmanPlasma
FSCost -60 160 100
Cost -60 160 100
BallisticProtection 10 30 40
Rationale: These are very easy to kill, especially so at 160 points. Puttin them at 100 points, I would compare their potential to a space marine flamer squad - their gun has a bit of bite to it and is armor piercing, but the flamers are a fair bit more durable and occasionally gets to strike a lot of units. So I think they're more fair at 100 points. On top of this, I added 10 ballistic protection, so they're about as tough as a lasgunner squad (which has 1 more man) and to compensate a bit for this being the only altered unit for this faction (their other units just seem to work well generally).


CHAOS DEMONS
HeraldOfNurgle
FSCost 10 180 190
Cost 10 180 190
HeavyArmour 1 25 26
Armour[0] 1 25 26
Armour[1] 1 25 26
Armour[2] 1 25 26
Armour[3] 1 25 26
HitPoints 10 600 610
Rationale: the unit is pretty balanced as is, but I kind of prefer one a smidgen tougher, so I've upped it's cost by 10 points and upped it's defense slightly (scaled relative to 190/180, 10 points buys about 1 heavy armor and 10 hit points and seems to be spot on. 2 heavy armor and 10 hit points was too much in my testing from the space marines point of view). The uneven cost also makes for some interesting combinations, together with the other uneven costs I've introduced.


PinkHorrors
FSCost -10 180 170
Cost -10 180 170
HitPoints 5 70 75
Rationale: I've had some unfortunate fights, losing 3 members of one horror squad and 2 members of a second horror squad to a single grenade. While this is not how it generally goes, that damage potential is a little high against a 180 point unit. Adding 5 hit points to each squad member ensures that they'll most likely survive the first grenade. With this being the only dedicated ranged unit, I also prefer a 10 point cost reduction, to enourage their use and offer some nice point buy combinations. They're still managable to kill and a 120 point space marine bolter squad is still a significant threat to these at medium range (I think the reason they're that much more expensive than bolters, even though bolters tend to win, is due to their somewhat better performance against heavy armor).


FiendOfSlannesh
HitPoints 60 400 460
Rationale: I find this unit rather easy to kill for a 180 point unit. I've previously tried adding 100 hp and found it a smidgen too little, but found it too much when switching to space marines. So I've settled on 60 hp, which put's it slightly below a baseline chaos spawn (which has 10 more heavy armor) in durability. It's abilites can be significant, but not always and if it gets blasted to pieces before it gets to use them, the loss is a little high for the demons I find.


ChaosSpawn1
CombatSkill 10 47 57
HitPoints 150 450 600
2ND_Damage 15 60 75
2ND_TileDamage 10 30 40
2ND_APEffective[0] 10 25 35
Rationale: this is the variant with the red Khorne horns and I've made it into a decent melee unit against anything without much heavy armor. The baseline is less durable than a bloodclaw squad (both have 450 hp, but the bloodclaws get better ballistic protection and heavy armor) which cost a third less, so I've upped it's hp by a third and it's damage by nearly a third, along with some general combat buffs. 10 extra combat skill helps block melee attacks and 10 extra armor piercing allows it to one-shot standard space marines more often.


ChaosSpawn2
FSCost -30 120 090
Cost -30 120 090
2ND_Shock 3 5 8
Rationale: This variant seems most similar to Tzeentch units (some of which seems to have a fixation on having 3 of things, like 3 arms on the horror squads) with it's 3 heads and arm that splits in 3 hands, so I've given it the same damage shield ability the horror squads have. With a 30 point cost reduction, this makes it a decent cheap meatshield against ranged attacks and a little closer to a bloodclaw squad overall. Though it has gained 3 shock damage to make it more distinct, it'll still generally lose to a bloodclaw squad in melee, as it's combat performance is otherwise the same.


ChaosSpawn3
FSCost -20 120 100
Cost -20 120 100
Actions 1 2 3
2ND_APEffective[0] 25 25 50
Rationale: with distinct Slannesh features, it's been envisioned as a "melee flamer", kind of. Costing 100 points, it has gained the morale damaging ability the Fiend of Slannesh has, allowing it to function similarly to a flamer squad for a turn, but with a significant buff to armor piercing and an extra action (like other Slannesh units), it also has good damage potential, if you can manage to keep it alive.


Bloodcrusher
HeavyArmour 2 45 47
Armour[0] 2 45 47
Armour[1] 2 45 47
Armour[2] 2 45 47
Armour[3] 2 45 47
Rationale: I found these a little too easy to kill, for a 320 point unit. in a 1200 point match, it's not uncommon for the space marines to kill them off in one turn and losing over 25% of your army like that can easily turn the whole match to a loss right there and then. Bolter terminators cost the same, but have more +40 hp, +2 ballistic protection and +15 heavy armor. Though the bloodcrushers ability to regain life can be significant, I think adding 2 heavy armor helps cover the case, where they don't get to use that ability at all and bring them a smidgen closer to terminators in durability.


Seeker
FSCost -10 160 150
Cost -10 160 150
Rationale: though these are decent offensively, they are easy to put down. Additionally, they're also not amazing against heavy armor, so they're at risk of dying themselves to retaliation strikes, which really stings. To compensate for the times this unit easily gets shot down or dies to retaliation while attacking, I think a 10 point cost reduction is fine and being the only unit at 150 points, this can also make for some nice point buy combinations.